We Will Not Grow Old
by Weronikus
Summary: It started with a 'Hello', but it began with an 'I do'. - A collection of stories in chronological order, not necessarily tightly connected with each other. A glimpse into the adult life of a married Yaku Morisuke to OC Shizu, while also showing the possible futures of other Haikyuu characters. Adult life AU: Takes place approx. 6 years after Haikyuu's 3rd years' graduation.
1. The Daily Lives

A/N: This is my first time posting anytihng on FF, so I hope everything works out okay. I never did a summary either, so I'm sorry if it's a bit low on information - but really, there's not much to say about this story.

Each chapter will be a collection of events from one day. The chapters will be arranged chronologically, but the days they're about don't have to be one after another - heck, they don't even have to be in the same week, or month. I also won't explicitly write that in any place, but instead will give little clues through dialogue or inner monologue. The main reason for this is because... Well, exact time is unnecessary.

I should probably point this out immediately: This will be a drama-free fanfiction.

All events will be (I hope) as plausible as they get, and volleyball - while still an important part of each guy's life - will be put in second place for most of them (note: not all, but MOST). IRL just because someone's good in a sport doesn't mean they go professional, and a very small percentage of people actually manage to make a living off of it. I want to replicate that realism to the best of my ability, meaning that this will be a fanfiction regarding an ordinary couple living an ordinary life with ordinary friends.

One last thing: because this will have such a loosely-connected format, feel free to leave suggestions of what you'd like to see or what you'd like to know, or perhaps what you think a certain character is doing in the future I described here. I'll try my best to add them in to the story.

I think that sums it up for now. If you haven't been discourage by that long note - I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The sound of loud, urgent chirping suddenly filled the formerly still and peaceful room.

With a small groan, Morisuke reached out and blindly felt around for his phone, finally locating it and bringing it up to his face. He groggily turned off the pesky, chirping alarm, and sighed when the blissful quiet returned again.

He put his phone away and turned to his side, letting his mind slowly come to it's senses and understand that sleeping time is over.

He hated Monday mornings.

As he finished his action of rolling to his side, his eyes fell on the silhouette nestled next to him.

Her short hair curled at the ends, limply falling to one side, revealing the side of her slender neck. It smoothly transitioned into a small shoulder, now almost completely tucked under the covers. The said covers hugged her petite form, only the curve from her waist to her hip slightly visible under the thick material.

If there was one thing Morisuke loved about Monday mornings, it was the possibility to have this short moment of marveling at the beautiful woman that lay next to him. She was never woken by alarm clocks; her slumber was too heavy. Even though she had already tried everything, every volume of every tune, she finally opted on the option that Morisuke personally liked best.

He reached out his arms under the covers, pushing them forwards until they came into contact with the warm waist. He then curled them around the soft, feminine body, gently pulling her closer into an affectionate hug.

The woman stirred in her sleep and sighed quietly, turning over in his arms, tucking her head under his chin.

In her current position, Morisuke couldn't see her face, only the top of her messy, chestnut hair. But he didn't need to; it's details were carved into his memory so that he could easily tell them all by heart - Long, dark eyelashes, matched with equally dark, but thin eyebrows, perfectly framing the warm, chocolate-brow eyes.

High cheekbones and a wide nose, underneath which lay small, pale lips.

As far as Morisuke was concerned, there was no face more beautiful, more angelic, than that of his sleeping wife's.

He pressed his lips against the top of her head in a kiss, making her stir again, in feeble protest.

"Shizu…" He murmured against her skin.

"Five more minutes…" She mumbled, pressing her face into his chest.

"And then five more, and five more, and five more…" He teased gently, his hand rubbing her back affectionately.

"No. Just… Just five." She mumbled again.

"You always say that. You know you need to get up." He said, unaffected.

Or rather, doing his best to stay unaffected. It took a lot of willpower to unfurl his arms from around her, slowly sitting up. It took even more willpower to not immediately return to his previous position when her arms instinctively reached out for him, trying to pull him back.

"Morisuke…" She whined softly, and he smiled softly at her.

"I'll make coffee." He stated, stretching, and finally stepped out of bed.

Abandoned of his warmth, the woman made one more attempt of catching him, before giving up with a sigh and stirring with more purpose in her movements.

Knowing that she was on the road to fully awakening now, Morisuke left her to get ready, while he walked out of their bedroom and into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, as he was pouring the hot, dark beverage into two mugs, the woman walked in slowly, arms high over her head as she stretched in her walk.

Upon noticing him, her lips stretched into a sleepy smile, large eyes peering at him warmly through the stray strands of hair that made it to her face.

"Good morning." She said, stifling a small yawn, and sitting down by the kitchen table.

"Right back at you." He replied, passing her one of the mugs - no milk or sugar, as she liked it in the mornings.

"You are a sweetheart." She said, gratefully pulling the mug towards her, and taking a sip immediately, sighing as the liquid hit her taste buds.

Morisuke couldn't help but smile at her with slight amusement, sitting down as well.

"You got up earlier today." She noticed, putting the mug down and glancing at him curiously. "You have an earlier shift this time around?"

Morisuke shook his head. "The shift stays the same, I just want to be there earlier." He explained. "A new patient was admitted last night. A six year old fell from a tree and badly broke her arm.

"Poor girl… Do you know how she's faring?"

"A coworker told me she's gone through the operation just fine, it's her mental state I'm more worried about. Bother her parents were away at the time, and are on their way back now - she must be going through a whole lot of stress and trauma in the meantime."

Shizu smiled at him sympathetically. "You do realize your coworkers are there for a reason, like you." She reminded him. "I'm sure everyone's doing their best to help her out."

Morisuke sighed, taking a large gulp of his own coffee. "I know. It's not like I'm getting paid extra, either, so I…"

A hand reached out and rested firmly against his own.

"It's not about the money, Mori." Shizu interrupted him. "You know that's not what I mean."

Morisuke glanced up to see her giving him an amused smile.

"You tend to forget you aren't the only one who cares sometimes." She explained. "Have a little faith in others. Nobody is expecting you to hold the weight of the world on your own two shoulders."

Perhaps Shizu had a point. But it was a point Morisuke didn't really want to acknowledge, at least not yet.

Morisuke didn't reply, just finished his coffee and got up to get ready. She watched him thoughtfully, her finger running around the rim of the jug.

He returned to the kitchen after around ten minutes, dressed up and and with his satchel prepared for work. Immediately after returning to the room, he steered towards the counters, with the purpose of preparing both of them breakfast.

Shizu was still sitting at the table, quietly sipping her coffee when he returned, and watched him silently as he started taking out the ingredients.

"Do you have a shift on Sunday next week?" She asked at one point curiously.

Morisuke paused in his vegetable cutting thoughtfully, running his timetable through his head, before shaking his head. "No." He replied finally, returning to his action,

"The next weekend is off, unless there's an emergency. Why?"

"I was thinking of inviting Tetsurou and Kozume over for dinner." She remarked. "Since Tetsurou's in his last year, he probably won't have time any other day, and Kozume will probably be fine with anything."

Morisuke glanced at her, intrigued. "Fine with me, it'll be great to see them again." He said, gathering up the vegetables and throwing them into an earlier prepared pan to sizzle. "Why them, though?"

"Worry, I guess." Shizu sighed, resting her head on her hand. "I don't trust them to look after themselves correctly. I'd like to get at least one solid meal in them."

Morisuke laughed at her reasoning, scooping the vegetables off the pan and cracking three eggs into it instead. "That makes sense for Kenma, I guess, but Kuroo?"

He asked lightly. "I'm sure he's taking care of himself."

"I'm actually less concerned about Kozume than I am about Tetsurou." She replied darkly. "Don't underestimate what a student during exam season is capable of."

"...I won't argue with you there. You'll call them, then?"

"Yes, I think I'll get that done today, after I return."

He nodded, throwing the fried vegetables onto the ready omelet base, and throwing in shred cheese, folding it all together.

"You'll be finishing the painting today, right?" He asked after a moment, shifting the omelet onto it's other side.

"Yes, I've just got minor details left." Shizu said, sighing. "It's too bad, really. I liked working on it."

"It took you almost two weeks. You're usually done quicker with them."

"Well, it's from the 11th century." She said, straightening. "Terribly kept, though. The paint was all cracked, and the canvas in such a bad shape I had to scrape it off and replace it completely. That in itself took a lot of time. I usually just reline. Oh, and the varnish mixed with all the grime that had settled… Not to mention the rough brush stroke used proved incredibly hard to replicate. I think I got the hang of it, though."

Morisuke pretended he understood all of it, nodding wisely, and only asked about what seemed easiest for him to grasp.

"What do you mean by the brush stroke?" Morisuke asked, puzzled, gently pushing the ready omelet onto a plate and neatly cutting it in half, sliding one of it onto a second plate.

He took both these and chopsticks to the table, laying one each. Shizu smiled her appreciation as she took her portion and the chopsticks, before slightly frowning with frustration.

"The technique used. Impressionists, for example, use short, defined lines of different colors of paint to form the image they want. Or from Japanese culture, back in the 14th century, the dominating style used black ink to depict monochrome landscapes, usually highly detailed as well." Shizu explained. "The painting I'm working on is from the Ottonian Renaissance, but the art style is completely different from it's time period. It's still religiously themed, as it was popular back then, but instead of rich, vibrant colors and neat, bold lines, it is a lot more rugged, and rough - it actually reminds me of abstract expressionism."

Morisuke stared at her blankly, most of the terms she used going completely over his head.

"…Now again, in non-artist language." Morisuke suggested, and Shizu laughed. After a moment of thoughtful silence, she smiled triumphantly.

"Image trying to receive a volleyball from a wing spiker that's a cross between Hinata and Koutarou." Shizu remarked. "Unpredictability and speed mixed with a large array of techniques and brute force. No pattern, because each spike is made purely on instinct, and you have to match them each step of the way to receive their spike."

"…Sounds like libero hell." Morisuke said wearily, and Shizu grinned.

"That's a bit what it feels like to replicate that art style." She explained. "It's very hard to match, since you're supposed to put thought into remaking something that looks like it was made on instinct."

Morisuke nodded thoughtfully, and they continued to eat in comfortable silence, with only a few comments passing between them. After he was done, Morisuke packed the bentos Shizu had prepared the evening before and smiled at her.

"I'll get going then." He remarked. She looked up at him curiously.

"What time will you be back?" She asked.

"Around six, if I'm not needed for longer." Morisuke remarked, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. In the last moment, she turned her head so instead of her cheek, he caught her lips.

She raised a hand to his cheek, lightly, almost teasingly stroking it as she deepened the kiss, playfully catching his lower lip between her teeth.

The amount of emotion that suddenly blasted through Morisuke could not be described.

Before he had a chance to reply, she had already broken it off, the suddenness of it completely opposite the sensuality she had used in the kiss itself. Dumbstruck,

Morisuke stared at her as she looked back at him with amused sparks in her eyes.

"…Try to make it back at that time, then." She said huskily, her fingertips grazing the contours of his lower jaw. "Don't keep me waiting." She added in a low voice, thick with suggestion.

At that moment, Morisuke was conscious of two things.

The first was how much he suddenly did NOT want to leave the house.

The second was how tight his trousers suddenly seemed.

Scowling, Morisuke forced himself to straighten again, glaring at her - something she completely didn't seem to mind.

"You…. Are being extremely unfair right now." He said, a small croak creeping into his voice.

Her smile widened into a grin, completely unabashed. With a disapproving huff, he turned on his heels and forced himself out of the house, Shizu's laugh following him out.

"Drive safely!" He only heard her call before he slammed the door behind him.

He stood on the doorstep for a moment, taking in a deep breath to calm down. The sharp, morning spring air did wonders in cooling down his overheating body.

"What got you in such a sour mood so early in the day, son?" A loud, rough voice caught his attention.

Morisuke turned to see the mildly curious face of their elderly neighbor, as he rested his elbow against their fence.

Morisuke also noticed, with slight exasperation, that he was wearing gardening gloves and holding shears. Naturally, instead of answering his question, he focused on what was truly important.

"Tanaka-san, you shouldn't be out so early." He scolded him, walking down to his car. "And don't overwork yourself, your arthritis won't get better from it."

The man huffed, his face contorting into a scowl. "You leave me and my joints alone, I can take care of myself just fine." He said, and Morisuke narrowed his eyes, walking up to his car.

"Not letting your knuckles rest at any point during the day isn't taking care of yourself." He pointed out sternly, unlocking the car door. "If you end up being unable to use your hands due to their swelling any time soon, you can't say I didn't warn you."

The man growled and snapped off one of the many rebellious twigs in his ferns.

"Kids these days." He muttered. "Think they know everything, and have the right to stick their noses everywhere."

"That won't work on me, Tanaka-san." Morisuke said bluntly. "I don't want to see you by the bushes when I get home this evening."

"Do I look like I need a nanny?!" He asked gruffly, watching Morisuke enter his car and drive off.

* * *

Shizu walked up to the window when Morisuke left the house, and watched him converse briefly with their neighbor and then drive off in his car. The moment it disappeared from view, she turned back, hands on hips.

Now that the main distraction was gone, she could focus on her own morning routine.

She started off by eating her own breakfast in silence, after which she washed all the dishes and cleaned the table. She walked to the bedroom and made the bed and took a change of clothes to the bathroom, showered, and changed. She then went through all the laundry, separating whites from colors, before choosing the bigger pile and throwing it into the washing machine, turning it on.

As the machine started humming quietly, she walked back to the bedroom and prepared her own things for work.

It was still too early for her to go, but finding nothing better to do, Shizu decided to just go anyway. Taking her bike from the garage, she leaned it carefully against the fence and walked back to the house to lock all the doors.

"A little early today, aren't we?" A rough voice reached her. She turned towards the source, smiling warmly at the elderly face.

"Tanaka-san." She greeted the man. "I figured I had nothing better to do."

"Your husband left earlier than usual, too." He continued grumpily, leaning against the fence. She wondered if his grumpiness had anything to do with the conversation they had earlier - but decided not to comment it.

"Yes, he was worried about one of the patients." She said pleasantly. "He decided to get there early."

"Caring man, he is. To the point of being a pain." Tanaka said gruffly, watching her return to her bike. "Some women like that, though. You should be careful he isn't whisked away."

Shizu laughed, looking at the other cheerfully. "I'm more worried about your joints, Tanaka-san, than I am about Morisuke's faithfulness."

"My joints are doing fine!" Tanaka said with a scowl. "You're getting just as bad as he is with your nagging!"

Ah. So it DID have to do with their conversation. Shizu should have guessed Morisuke would've commented on it again.

"It's part of his job." Shizu reminded him lightly. "And rightly so, since you have a tendency to over-exert yourself."

Tanaka muttered something about nannies as Shizu sat down on the bike seat.

"You know what you need? A little rascal." Tanaka said, still miffed about the comment. "Then you'll be too busy with your own problems to care about other people's lives."

"Maybe one day." Shizu said with a grin, waving to Tanaka, riding off.

Forty minutes later, she arrived at the museum, and after chaining her bike to the bike stand, walked inside. The receptionist glanced up and blinked, surprised.

"Yaku-san!" She said. "You're here early!"

Shizu shrugged. "I didn't have much to do at home. And that Ottonian painting is really bugging me."

The woman shook her head with a sigh. "I sometimes think you have two husbands, Yaku-san. And I believe you should divorce work."

"Not gonna happen." Shizu said with a smile. "Did the director come in yet?"

"No. He'll be in later than usual. Oh, but he did call." The receptionist added, suddenly reminded. She sorted through her papers and pulled out a note, eyes scanning it, before looking back up at Shizu.

"He asked if you'd get done with the painting today…"

"It might be possible, I only have the tidbits left," Shizu said thoughtfully,

"…That you're to start on the Greek vase that came in yesterday." The receptionist ended. "It's waiting in the storage room. The staff has been informed already, so just show up and they'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Hmm… I haven't done a lot of work with ceramic decorations." Shizu said, scratching her chin. "I might not have all the necessary tools and chemicals-"

"Oh, the director mentioned that too." The receptionist added quickly. "If you're missing anything, you're allowed to go buy it, or get someone to do it for you, using museum funds."

Shizu smiled with relief. "That's great, then. I'll get to work. See you." She added, waving to the receptionist fondly and heading to the employee doors.

Once in the backrooms of the museum, she weaved her way through the clutter and mess until she reached the restoration room. Donning on her protective wear,

Shizu entered the room to find the large painting as she left it, lying face-down on the table. She sighed quietly as she carefully turned it over, exposing the cracked surface, the paint missing in more than one spot.

Already, the painting of the crucified Jesus Christ was more discernible than when she first got it - the grime had been removed, exposing the true colors of the paint itself, and with the canvas changed and pulled firm, the painting was once again straight, the wrinkles and creases gone.

Shizu had already gotten the gaps and cracks filled with putty; parts she managed to paint over as well, keeping as closely to the original style as possible. It was time to finish off all the rest.

She prepared her paints and narrowed her eyes at the painting. It was time to get to work.

Nobody disturbed her. She didn't see anyone, or hear anyone, either - when lunch break came, she opted to eat it alone. It's not that Shizu disliked human contact; she didn't. She liked company, especially among people she trusted. But she liked alone-time, too - and her work gave her all the opportunity for this that she needed. Just her and the painting; nothing more was needed for her happiness.

* * *

"Yaku-san, you're needed in room 3-0-5, like, right now." The face of his co-worker popped out from behind the door.

Morisuke glanced at her, brow furrowed. "Chika's room? What's happening now?" He asked, slightly exasperated.

"She says she doesn't like today's food." The other replied, wrinkling her nose. "Little brat. Wanted to throw the damn tray into my face."

Morisuke rubbed his eyes tiredly. This was the third time he was called to the twelve-year-old's room. Third. Time.

"I'll be there in a minute." He said with a sigh. "Let me at least finish my coffee."

"Well, hurry. She's one tantrum away from destroying serious medical equipment." The other warned, disappearing again.

With a scowl, Morisuke gulped down the remainder of his coffee. Five minutes. That was the amount of time he had used up of his well-needed break before he was called on duty again.

With a frustrated sigh, he threw away the paper cup and stormed up to the girl's room.

"NO!" A scream greeted him immediately. "I. Don't. WANNA!"

"Look dear, I know that this all seems icky, but if you-"

"No, no, no, NO!"

Morisuke looked at the scene before him with growing irritation.

One of his female co-workers was kneeling by the bed, a begging look on her face as she held a plate in her hands. A small girl, no older than twelve, stood up in her bed, hands on hips, feet apart as she looked away indignantly. The IV connected to her wrist swung flimsily at her movements, almost begging to be caught on something if she did any too sudden moves.

The nurse by her bed looked up at her, the weariness obvious on her face.

"The sooner you eat it, the quicker you can forget about it." She reasoned, but the girl just looked away, unconvinced.

"No WAY." She said with determination. "You're not gonna force me!"

"Is there a problem?" Morisuke asked, forcing to keep his voice calm. The nurse whipped her head to him, relief instantly flooding her face.

"Yaku-san!" She said gratefully.

The girl, who had been facing backwards to him, now jumped around to face him.

"Mr. Nurse!" She said, delighted, before pouting at him, and pointing at the other nurse. "Mr. Nurse, she's being mean to me!" She whined.

Mr. Nurse. A nickname Morisuke had been given by patients and other nurses alike - being the only male nurse in the wing made him easily recognizable. Using a nickname made it also easier for patients to call on a certain nurse, since they didn't need to remember surnames that way.

Morisuke didn't mind. He didn't feel uncomfortable in his position; unlike most other male nurses he knew (which weren't that many anyway) he didn't take the nursing study course after failing to get into medicine; that was never his goal at all in the first place.

"Is she now?" Morisuke asked, feigning surprise. He walked up to the bed and the girl lost some of her confidence.

"Because as I see it, you're being very disrespectful, Chika-chan." He said, keeping his voice calm, but firm. "I'm disappointed in you."

Color drained from the girl's face as her accusing finger trembled.

"But- But she wants to force me to eat vegetables!" She whined. Morisuke smiled a cold smile.

"Well if you don't want to eat, that's fine." He replied. "We won't give you your dinner later today, since that has vegetables too. Your next meal will be tomorrow's breakfast, how does that sound?"

The girl widened her eyes at him, fear creeping in as she realized how serious he was. As if on cue, her stomach growled, echoing her fear.

"Suzuki-san, please give me the plate." Morisuke said to the other nurse, who up till now had been gaping at him as if he were a saint. At the request, she snapped out of it and got up and walked up to him, giving him the plate. She then flashed a quick, grateful smile and hurried out of the room, leaving them both alone.

Chika eyed the vegetables on the plate as if they had personally offended her.

"I'll count to five." Morisuke said, still in that same calm voice. "If you don't sit back down in that time, you can say goodbye to eating anything else than vegetables during the rest of your stay here. One…"

The speed with which Chika clambered back under her covers could only be compared with the speed of light.

Morisuke smiled.

"Good girl." He said, setting the plate down on her knees. "I'm going to stand here until you finish that. I'm not letting you do anything until you get that into your stomach."

Chika looked up at him, alarmed. "But-" She yelped, but Morisuke shook his head firmly.

"No buts. Eat, or you can say goodbye to even sleeping." He said bluntly, crossing his arms defiantly.

It took Chika a solid twenty seconds for Morisuke's words to sink in, to make her realize he wasn't bluffing. During that time, Morisuke didn't look away from her even once.

And then, in painfully slow bites, Chika started eating the vegetable, her distaste for it obvious on her face. Morisuke didn't move until she had finished each last bite.

When she finally did so, with a sigh of relief, she leaned back on her pillow, closing her eyes wearily - as if the action itself took a lot more energy than the food itself would give her.

Morisuke smiled again - but this time genuinely.

"Was that really so hard?" He asked gently, taking the plate, and putting it back on the tray. "As a reward, I'll make sure you get something nice for your dinner later today."

Chika's eyes fluttered open as she looked at him hopefully. "Really?" She asked excitedly.

"I promise." Morisuke replied warmly, and left her room, heading to the kitchens with the tray.

Morisuke reckoned the cooks probably wouldn't be pleased with his request to give Chika a second helping of dessert after dinner, but they'll oblige either way. It wasn't the first time he made such a request; he believed in rewards more than he believed in punishments.

And his methods did work. Which was probably one of the main reasons why Morisuke was assigned to the children's wing of the hospital.

He didn't mind. He enjoyed it.

"Yaku!" One of the doctors called sharply, and Morisuke turned on his heels to face him, high on alert.

"Yes?" He asked immediately. Dread filled him instantly when he saw the impatience and fatigue painted all over the other's face.

"Koizumi's being... Uncooperative again." The doctor stated.

He stilled.

"Please don't tell me he turned off the equipment again." Morisuke said, and the doctor replied with a not too promising facial expression.

Morisuke grit his teeth, and marched over to the boy's room, with the intention of giving him a good earful - one he'll hopefully listen to... finally.

Morisuke really did enjoy his work.

Most of the time.

* * *

It was half past six when Morisuke drove his car up into the driveway, and turned it off with a sigh.

Such a long, tough day. He didn't even feel like getting out of the car. He could go to sleep right there and then.

With a yawn, Morisuke left the car, locked it, and walked up to the house.

"I'm home." He said tiredly, entering into the corridor, changing his footwear clumsily.

Shizu leaned up from her sitting position on the sofa, and upon noticing his state, smiled sympathetically.

"Welcome home." She said warmly, unwrapping herself from her blanket cocoon and walking up to him to kiss his cheek affectionately.

"Go rest. I'll heat up your dinner." She said, patting his arm apologetically. "I was ravenous when I got back, so I already ate."

A gush of emotion towards her passed through Morisuke.

"No, that's fine… Thanks, Shizu." He said genuinely, passing her towards the sofa, and plopping down heavily.

"Happy to help." She said lightly, disappearing in the kitchen.

Morisuke watched the movie she had been watching blankly, until she returned sometime later with steaming food and hot tea, placing both in front of him.

"Here you go." She said softly. "Good work today."

"Thanks." He said, immediately starting to eat. At his tremendous appetite, Shizu chuckled and sat down next to him, wrapping herself up in her blankets again, looking at the TV screen with interest.

After a while, while still eating, Morisuke noticed something familiar in a particular scene.

"Didn't you watch this before?" He asked suddenly. She gave him a small smile.

"This'll be my fourth time." She admitted. "But I just love it too much."

"…Fourth… You'd think I'd have recognized it earlier then." Morisuke murmured, taking another mouthful.

"You never really paid attention to it, since it's not up your alley." She said, nestling herself more comfortably. "Like most men I know, Jane Austen is far from your sphere of interests."

"Funny name." Morisuke noticed, finishing his dinner and leaning back as well.

"It's English." Shizu replied simply.

Morisuke glanced down at her, at the fascination painted on her face as she watched the movie. She stated it was her fourth time watching it, but she was as immersed in it as if it were her first. Her eyes were alight, cheeks slightly flushed - and her entire body leaned forwards, as if she only wished to jump into the world of those fictional characters.

She was so immersed, she didn't notice Morisuke's gaze on her; didn't notice as his eyes trailed down from her dark pupils to her pink cheeks, down to her slightly parted lips, pulled back into a small smile…

It occurred to Morisuke that she had a similar facial expression, the same liveliness to it that morning, when she surprised him before he left for work.

And Morisuke suddenly felt a lot more awake.

"C'mere." He said softly, pulling her closer to him.

"Hmm?" She asked distractedly, shuffling closer.

"I'm cold." Morisuke explained, though this was a lie.

She unwrapped herself from the blanket again, and draped them both with it, shuffling closer still to his side, sitting down on her legs.

Morisuke lightly draped his arm around her small shoulders, and she leaned her head against him, eyes still glued to the screen.

He'll have to do something about that. In a moment, though. If he turned off the screen right now, she'd not appreciate that at all.

He slowly moved his hand down from her arm onto her waist, lazily drawing circles over her torso with his hand.

"Mori, not now." She huffed, catching his hand, eyes still on the screen. "This is the best part."

"I'm not doing anything, though." He replied innocently. She scowled slightly, but didn't let go if his hand.

Undeterred, he rubbed the skin on her hand with his thumb, moving it in wide, constant circles.

Her small scowl only deepened.

"Mori…" She said again, shifting her position, so she was leaning her back against his side, head still turned to the screen, letting his hand go in the process - probably in a lame attempt to defend her stomach from being touched further. What a silly way of thinking.

"Yes?" He murmured, leaning down to kiss the crook of her neck, both hands now on her waist.

"Stop it." She said, though her voice held less conviction than before.

"Stop what?" He asked softly, planting another kiss up her neck, gently nipping her skin as well. He could well hear her shiver slightly as he did so, too.

"…It." She said, her voice trembling. "Don't…"

"Don't do what?" He asked again, his hand pulling up her shirt slowly, to rest his hand against the bear skin of her stomach. She took in a sharp breath, the skin under his hands moving with the sudden intake of air. Almost on instinct, he pressed his hands against her warm stomach, enjoying her instant reaction as he held her closer.

"…I recall asking you to NOT keep me waiting. You missed your chance." She muttered, though the hint of longing in her voice informed Morisuke of all he needed to know.

"Well, I did try to get back as quick as possible…" He murmured with a lazy smile, his hands slowly trailing up her stomach, running over her ribs idly, and moving to her sides up onto her back, inclined on removing a certain pesky article of clothing.

Perhaps he had caused her excitement to pass a certain level, or perhaps she accepted the inevitable - or maybe she just wanted to surprise him. Whichever it was, before he could do anymore, she suddenly twisted around till she faced him, eyes glazed over with need, eyebrows furrowed in a scowl.

"Damn you." She growled out, before trapping his lips in a passionate kiss.

Trying hard to stop the growing, triumphant smirk, Morisuke kept enough sanity of mind to turn the television off before swooping her off the couch, bridal-style, inclined to move to a more comfortable place.

It was her fourth time watching the movie. Morisuke really didn't feel too bad about breaking her focus on it.


	2. The Art Event

Author's Note: Each next chapter -this one included - will be shorter than the first, which you can treat as an "introduction" into what this will look like.

As you'll soon see, a rather major coincidence occurs in this chapter, but I'll try to keep these to a minimum - mostly because in life, major coincidences or bumping into familiar people isn't something that happens on a daily basis. This will be harder to maintain in this AU due to a limited number of characters I want to work with, and limited chances of them meeting outside of scheduled outings. Another thing is, because I want to make as little OCs as possible as well, the main OC will have friends from the canon characters supply. I'll try to make the connections seem as plausible as possible, but if sometimes it turns out as silly or impossible to happen in reality - please bare with me. I probably had no better ideas of how to patch them up together.

I'll probably be making more A/Ns in further chapters. If you have any questions, feel free to ask - I'll answer them in these, too.

* * *

Shizu had been just finishing with the dishes when her phone rang.

Morisuke glanced up curiously from his tablet screen as she reached out to pick it up, and then turned back to looking through his e-mails soon after.

"Hello? Yes, speaking. Is there something…?"

Morisuke was vaguely aware of Shizu sitting down opposite him, falling silent as she listened to the other side. He was reading through one of the emails from Tetsurou regarding their next meet up when Shizu's answer piqued his curiosity.

"…Again?" She said heavily. "But it was just fixed…"

Feeling he knew what was up, he looked up sympathetically to see her staring at the table, eyes downcast, and slender shoulders slumped, in a very characteristic look of disappointment.

"Well, are they sure it's the- Oh. Right. No no, I understand." Shizu continued, not paying Morisuke much attention. "Do they know when they'll get it done? By tomorrow? At least that much, then. Alright. Thank you, goodbye." Shizu ended her call and let out a long, sad sigh.

"Is it the piping again?" Morisuke guessed gently. Shizu stuck out her lower lip in frustration as she glanced up at him. Even though he felt for her, he never could stop thinking of that specific facial expression of hers as truly endearing. In a way, it reminded him of a child being told he won't be getting any birthday presents - and in part, he suspected that was the way Shizu actually felt.

"Unfortunately." She mumbled, and then let out another sigh, this one more frustrated. "The plumber told them last time the entire system is faulty and aged, and that they should replace it all in one go, but they ignored him."

"Didn't they ignore him always when it happens, anyway?" Morisuke asked curiously, smiling with amusement. He was well aware of the many "inconveniences" Shizu had already lived through with her workplace.

She scowled lightly in reply.

"They did." She mumbled. "And when confronted, they claim they don't have the finances - bollocks. The city will finance it if they're given proof it's necessary, which it is."

"I guess they just really don't want to get the paperwork done." Morisuke mused. "Tokyo might finance it, but they'll want a lot of documentation done beforehand."

"They aren't that lazy. Or at least, shouldn't be." Shizu replied, looking down again. "Because of their mindless decisions, I have another free day again."

Morisuke laughed. "You know, most people would be quite happy to be told they have an extra paid day off."

"It's not really work, though." Shizu said in her defense, her scowl smoothing out into resignation. "At least it doesn't feel like it."

That Morisuke could agree with. Both of them were lucky enough to have jobs they truly enjoyed doing, and in which time didn't move at a snail's pace; however, unlike Morisuke's job, Shizu's job was also her hobby. Conservation was another form of art for her, which is something she held dearly close to her heart. If Morisuke was told that for whatever reason, he wasn't to come to the hospital, he'd probably be happy to have another free day, even if he didn't mind working. But each time it happened to Shizu, she was more than disappointed. She was close to depressed. So Morisuke had to come up with an idea to cheer her up.

And he had just the thing.

"Hey, remember that thing you told me about some time ago?" He said, simultaneously skimming through another e-mail, this time regarding work - a small note his work hours for the next day had been altered.

"There were many things I told you about. Which one are you bringing up now?" Shizu mumbled, still miffed about the day off.

Morisuke tapped his fingers on the table while using his other to reply quickly. "That thing in the park." He looked up in thought. "Something to do with the art students putting some of their stuff out."

Shizu was silent for quite a while, which made Morisuke look up at her. He found her staring at him, stunned.

"Or did I mix some stuff up?" He asked, suddenly doubtful. It was only then that she blinked back into reality.

"No, I- I just-" She paused, and then suddenly laughed. "Honestly, I forgot about it."

It was now Morisuke's turn to look at her in stunned silence.

"You… Forgot." He repeated slowly. "About an art event. Shizu, are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, hush you." She said, grinning widely. "I was just certain I wouldn't have the time for it anyway. But now… My goodness, Mori, you're a genius. The event's still on till tomorrow. We can go!"

Morisuke smiled with amusement at the sudden excitement buzzing through her as she checked the time and place of the event. He then looked back down to his e-mails, finishing up his reply to Tetsurou.

He didn't mind Shizu used the term 'we' even if initially he didn't think mentioning it would imply he'd go with her. But it was fine; even if art wasn't a big deal for him at it was for her, he was more than happy just to spend more time with her.

Especially after she called him a genius.

* * *

"This one's wonderful. Really magnificent." Shizu marveled, looking at the metal statue before her.

Morisuke looked at the same piece skeptically. "It's just a bunch of metal pieces connected to each other. What's the difference between this and all the other metal statues?" He asked doubtfully.

Shizu glanced at him, obviously entertained. "Just a bunch of metal pieces? Don't you see any shape in it?"

Morisuke narrowed his eyes, trying to see the mismatching, discolored, rugged metal pieces placed together in what seemed like general disorder as a full sculpture and shape.

He looked over it once again, but not coming to any reasonable explanation, gave her the only answer he had since the beginning.

"It looks like the Tin Man." He remarked, and Shizu laughed.

"I thought you might see it as such." She replied lightly. "You don't know much of Europe's renaissance, not that I blame you for it." She added, circling the statue, before glancing at the person standing next to it.

"This is a re-visioning of Michelangelo's 'David', isn't it?" She guessed, and the young man standing a few steps away from her beamed proudly.

"That's right. Ma'am, you're the first to know the answer to that today."

Morisuke glanced at the man suspiciously. There was a bit too much enthusiasm in his voice as he replied to Shizu. And he certainly shouldn't be watching her every step so keenly.

Shizu grinned at the student, then glanced at Morisuke. "I'm not surprised, if my husband's to be any indicator."

The art student's eyes flickered over to look at Morisuke, who was more than happy to see the tinge of disappointment within them. They didn't linger, however - the student went right back to keeping an eye on Shizu with interest, which Morisuke certainly didn't enjoy - it was far more irksome than Shizu's slight teasing.

Morisuke moved a few steps towards her, placing himself more in-between her and the student while the woman herself was still amazingly oblivious to the attention given to was the thing with Shizu; give her an art piece she specifically likes, and she'll be more likely to see THAT making moves on her than any living, moving creature.

"It's not that the Asian culture is ignorant of European art, it's just that we're not really hard-wired to think of it on the go when someone says 'art'." She continued, still marveling at the piece. "Case in point - Morisuke, name the first sculptor that comes to your mind."

It was a no-brainer. And even though he knew where she was going with this, he decided to relent, his watchful gaze still on the art student.

"Jouchou. Or Unkei." He replied, and Shizu smiled, looking back to the student. The look of wonder and admiration painted on his face was not one Morisuke encouraged. He also didn't really like the fact the man was taller than him… By a head, at least. Shizu still noticed nothing, instead smiling at them both serenely.

"Exactly. Both are Japanese. Which leads me back to the original point I wanted to make - you're very brave to make a revisioning of an European classic. Portraying classical pieces in modern forms has the most sense when the viewer knows what it is he's looking at. Otherwise it's just another piece of art. He doesn't appreciate it to the entire depth."

Morisuke kept eyeing the student as Shizu kept talking, her own eyes turning back to the sculpture. He was really starting to dislike this man. He was what, twenty? Probably not older. Shizu was older than him. By two years. And married. Did he really intend to stare so rudely at someone else's wife in their presence? Furthermore, was he so intent on ignoring Morisuke's VERY obvious signs to back off?

"I know. But I couldn't help myself." The boy replied eagerly. "'David' was always my favorite sculpture, so I wanted to use it as my model."

Shizu smiled fondly, slowly making her way around the sculpture. "I can't blame you." She replied. "Michelangelo's a great artist. And you made a magnificent job yourself. You managed to convey David's relaxed pose with ease by picking larger, smoother pieces, and then making the strain in his right arm and clenched hand very well portrayed by using the smaller, jagged pieces. It's simplified to the original, but anyone who's familiar to the marble sculpture can easily make the connection. I imagine just searching for the right materials had to take at least a month. But it was worth it. Really worth it."

At this point, the student looked like he was one compliment away from falling down onto his knees and begging for Shizu's hand. And Morisuke had more than enough.

Since she had come to a stop back at Morisuke's side, having finished her slow circle around the sculpture, he gently clasped her hand, making her look up at him with slight surprise. He tried to keep a poker face, but he was pretty sure it didn't work out - the mystified look she sent him was proof of that. However, his action DID jolt her out of her small monologue she had started, and instead, she now turned to the student curiously.

"Earlier, you mentioned I was the first to be correct 'today'. Did anyone else guess it over the week?"

The student, who had looked down at Morisuke's move to catch her hand with small disappointment, looked back up at her at the question, the prior emotion gone from his face.

"Oh - yes, actually. Just one person, though." He said. "Two days ago, on Tuesday. The girl was really excited with seeing 'David' here."

Morisuke restrained from asking whether or not he showed as high interest in that girl as he did to Shizu.

"Oh? Was she a connoisseur?" Shizu asked curiously.

The student half-smiled. "Perhaps." He replied, "But I'm pretty sure she was a student before that."

He was being way too familiar with Shizu. They met just a moment ago, and he was already letting himself be cheeky?

What was worse was Shizu not only didn't seem to mind - she laughed along. That Morisuke had no answer to, and only fueled his already high levels of irritation.

"Oh, okay, smart guy." She replied good-naturedly, "And did you catch what she studied?"

"I did, actually." The other said, obviously enjoying himself - too much, in Morisuke's opinion. "I also caught a name. Miss Yachi, studying Ad Design. She was extremely knowledgeable for her major - even her boyfriend was surprised."

All negative thought Morisuke had been throwing his way in the hopes he'll FINALLY catch a hint vanished as mere surprise took over. He glanced down at Shizu tosee that she, too, had been stunned into silence.

* * *

"You didn't tell me you were visiting Tokyo!"

"I-I'm sorry, Shizu-chan, but… it was a one day trip, and-"

"So you couldn't even pop in for a moment and say hello? Really?"

"I really am sorry, I just-"

"Some friend you are, Hitoka."

"SHIZU-CHAN!"

Shizu moved the phone away from her ear as the loud wail sounded through the other side, before returning it to it's original place.

Shizu had known Hitoka for nine years now; they had met by pure accident while Shizu had been in Miyagi, visiting her grandmother. She hadn't known the town that well, and after she got lost in one neighborhood, had asked for help the one person in the vicinity - Hitoka herself.

They exchanged email addresses, but they hadn't gotten close till high school (much like a few other people Shizu was now close with) when both volleyball teams had met during the first practice match between then. Seeing a familiar face, Hitoka had approached Shizu, and their friendship grew from there.

Both had matured in many ways since then; but the friendship dynamic between them, with Shizu often acting as the teasing older sister, hadn't changed.

"I'm just kidding." She replied with a grin. "A little punishment, but I had my fun. SO, moving on to the more important topics…"

Hitoka suddenly went silent, as if she was holding her breath. Shizu's grin only widened.

"Um… You… You mean Saturday...?" Hitoka finally asked, her voice a tiny, terrified squeak.

It was all Shizu could do to not laugh out into the receiver.

Though Hitoka had gained a lot more confidence over the years, one part of her remained the same; the almost petrifying shyness and fear of being misunderstood. Shizu knew that was the reason she was behaving the way she was now; it was just impossible for her not to tease her about it for a small while.

It's not that Shizu was a bad person. She didn't find pleasure in other people's miseries. She just loved teasing people - and sometimes, that meant keeping Hitoka on edge that tiny bit longer than necessary.

"Well, sure, that's one thing on my mind." Shizu mused in reply, glancing up as Morisuke entered the bedroom, and smiling cheekily at him. He gave her a slightly exasperated look before steering towards the wardrobe.

Although Morisuke somewhat understood the sisterly bond between them, he didn't much like any sort of picking on people - even if it isn't taken the wrong way by the person being teased. So though he tolerated it (to a point), he often made a point to show he didn't approve.

Shizu didn't mind. Everyone had their own opinions.

"But I actually meant something different." She continued the conversation, "See, the guy who told me you visited, added this tiny detail that I found extremely intriguing."

Again, Hitoka took a long time before she replied.

"…An…And?" She stammered out. Shizu could only imagine her being deathly pale as she waited for Shizu to continue.

"He mentioned something about…. A boyfriend?" She asked innocently. "So I was kinda cur-"

Instead of continuing the silence, Hitoka suddenly burst into a waterfall of incoherent words and beginnings of sentences, successfully cutting Shizu off from saying anything more.

"Well- No, you- I actually- Shizu, you just- ugh… I mean- There's this- But it's just… Gah! You have to-"

It was all Shizu could do to not giggle outright into the receiver. The stammering, flustered, panicked Hitoka was one of the sides of her she found most adorable.

"I'm… I'm sorry, you keep getting cut off mid-sentence." Shizu said, her voice slightly trembling as she tried to stop from laughing. "Are there connection issues on your side?"

"No- what?- wait, no- The connection- um… It's- It's fine! It's well, see-"

While Shizu kept silently shaking from her held-in laughter, she felt a light tap on the top of her head. As she looked up, still grinning goofily, she saw Morisuke looking at her disapprovingly. She winked slowly, to which Morisuke shook his head in resignation and returned to preparing his things for the next day.

Still, Morisuke's slight reprimand did remind her it was about time to put the poor Hitoka at peace.

"Alright, okay." Shizu said soothingly. "I was only teasing you. I know you guys aren't together. Relax, Hitoka-chan, or you'll get a heart attack soon enough."

Aren't together...Yet, she added silently in her mind.

"Oh…. You… Shizu-chan…." Hitoka breathed pitifully into the receiver, this time making Shizu unable to stop her laughter.

"I know, I went too far. Sorry about that." Shizu said gently. "But I AM rooting for you two."

"You're… You're being terribly unfair, Shizu-chan." Hitoka said with a sigh, regaining her calm. "There's n-nothing going on."

"Don't think I didn't notice the stammer." Shizu teased lightly, to which Hitoka only responded with an incomprehensible mumble. Shizu chuckled, looking up to see Morisuke finishing up with his packing.

"I'll be ending for now." She replied, "Mori's got the early shift tomorrow, I don't want to keep him up too late."

"Oh! Of course. Say hi to Yaku-san from me, please. See you soon!"

"Will do. See you." Shizu replied lightly, and ended the conversation just as Morisuke zipped up his bag. "You know, for someone who cares for her friends," Morisuke noticed, closing the wardrobe, "You do an awful job of showing it."

Shizu grinned at the insult, knowing full well Morisuke didn't actually mean it.

"She'll be thanking me before long." Shizu replied confidently. "And I am sure as hell there's only one person who she's so intimate with that a mere stand-by would think of him as her boyfriend. And alone all day, in Tokyo? Please. He's not even into art."

"I don't think there's anything Hinata's into except volleyball." Morisuke said with amusement, to which Shizu froze.

"Hinata?" She replied, dumb-founded. "Who said anything about Hinata?"

"Well - didn't you?" Morisuke replied, equally confused.

"No, of course not." Shizu said, eyes wide, as if the very idea of it seemed alien to her. "Hinata and Hitoka? You seriously thought I was thinking about them being together?"

"Well - What's so wrong with it?" Morisuke asked defensively.

"They're like brother and sister!" Shizu replied. "That's like - That's like saying you support incest, or the brother or sister complex-"

"I think you're exaggerating." Morisuke said bluntly, sitting down on the bed next to her. "But for sake of conversation, who is it you were talking about?"

"Definitely not Hinata." Shizu stressed, to which Morisuke just waved his hand dismissively, "The person I meant is much more suitable boyfriend material, anyway. That person being Yamaguchi."

"Yamaguchi?" Morisuke replied, slightly surprised. "Why Yamaguchi?"

"Because, for one, he's not like a brother to her," Shizu stated, and right on cue Morisuke sent her a tired look, "And second, it's pretty obvious the two adorable, awkward dorks feel something for each other."

"So you noticed something between them two that they didn't notice themselves." Morisuke summed up, and Shizu rolled her eyes.

"Of course they haven't noticed, the two are on similar levels experience-wise. But it's vivid from the outside."

"It's the romantic in you talking." Morisuke replied, climbing under the covers, and Shizu following suit. "Yamaguchi and Hitoka aren't like that."

"Says the guy who thinks Hinata and Hitoka ARE." Shizu replied, flicking off the light, and Morisuke groaned.

"You won't let that die down, will you?"

"I'll treat that as a rhetorical question." Sizu said, unable to keep the smile of her face as she shifted towards Morisuke. She heard a stifled sigh, after which a hand softly landed on her head, stroking it idly.

Silence took over the dark, still room. Slowly, Shizu felt herself drift off, lulled by Morisuke's rythmic strokes over her hair. It was moments like these she liked best. Moments where no words or actions were needed - just lying comfortably, side by side, enjoying each other's presence. Feeling warm, and safe.

But just as the last wisps of consciousness were leaving her, she was reminded of something - something she had meant to mention, but almost forgot about it over the talk of Hitoka. But now that she remembered, she just couldn't let this opportunity pass her by.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hmm?" Morisuke's sleepy reply reached her.

"Thanks for today. It was nice."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I did." Shizu yawned. "Watching you get so jealous was amusing." She added sleepily.

"Well, you're welco-Wait, what?" Morisuke said, suddenly alert. "Shizu, you-?"

"Goodnight, Mori…" She murmured, smiling wickedly into his shoulder.


	3. The Insecurities

A/N: Perhaps due to the huge amount of stress I've been put under recently (II year of Vet Studies and all) I found it hard to get completely in character this time about. So if - especially Morisuke - seems OOC, I deeply apologize. I tried. I'll do my best in the next chapter. (Except for the beginning. I'd like to think canon Mori has a similarly hard time with lack of sleep as I do.)

I know this chapter is long overdue, and I apologize for it. However now that University has started again, that'll take priority, so I probably will be uploading incredibly irregularily. The only good news I can offer, at least, is that there will be no cliffhangers - and you won't need to go back three chapters to understand what's going on in the latest one.

So I recently read that the Japanese healthcare system is pretty good and bad at the same time ( node/21528660 - link if you want to know the details). I sort of stumbled on it by accident, but I thought - 'Hey, I can use this.' If in future chapters country-wide problems will be added, I'll link the sources to those as well - just in case someone's interested. (Unless I'd make it up - though I'm usually bad at that, so I'll be trying to keep it to a minimum.)

With no further ado - Enjoy!

* * *

It was a usual Sunday morning. If Sunday mornings could get usual at all. Since the word 'usual' indicated a routine - or at least, some sort of action that was associated with one given time in one given day.

This was what Morisuke was reflecting on while slowly chewing his toast, staring at the bitten piece of bread with only half of his brain working properly.

He had to leave the Saturday meet-up early due to having the night shift at the hospital. Morisuke didn't really dislike night shifts, but he DID dislike them on the nights between Saturday and Sunday. Since it meant Sunday was usually spent on trying his best to stay awake on his favorite day of the week. Favorite, because it was the one day of the week when there was absolute certainty that if Morisuke had the day off, he and Shizu could spend it together. Shizu always had Sundays off, with no changing shifts. (Morisuke thought her lucky in that aspect.)

So, Morisuke continued his slurred train of thought, if 'being usual' demanded a routine, Morisuke's currently sleep-deprived state was an obstacle he would have to beat in order to see the said routine through. And since, in all honesty, he did not feel like it - truth be told, he only wished to go back to sleep - that routine won't be completed. In consequence, the Sunday was far from usual. Unless having unusual Sundays every two to three weeks was some sort of routine of it's own?

"I swear, if you stare any harder at that piece of toast, you'll cause it to form a natural blush."

Morisuke started, and glanced up to see Shizu looking at him from her position on the sofa, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"I should've taken a picture," she continued, "Just so you could see the intensity of your gaze."

"...Was it that bad?" He asked sleepily, taking another lazy bite from the now cold bread.

"It was either that bad, or that good." Shizu remarked. "Was there any specific reason for it?"

"I was reflecting." Morisuke mumbled through his chews.

"Reflecting on… What?" Shizu asked, her smile widening as she sipped on her coffee. Unlike Morisuke, she was full of energy - she tended to go to sleep earlier when Morisuke had the night shifts, so she woke up easily the next day.

He once asked her why this was. Her suggestive reply was: "Well, there's nothing to do without you around, is there?"

(Unfortunately, he couldn't lower the amount of night shifts he was given in his schedule.)

"On… The meaning of routines." Morisuke finally replied thoughtfully, finishing his breakfast.

Shizu's eyes widened, before she giggled, shaking her head in bewilderment.

"I should record you sometime." She concluded. "Lack of sleep works like a drug on you."

Morisuke stared at her quizzically, to which she only waved her hand dismissively, grinning widely.

A moment later, the doorbell rang.

Still grinning, Shizu got up and walked to the door to check who it was. Morisuke observed her quietly, still mulling over what exactly it was he said that Shizu found so hilarious. When she disappeared behind the corner of the wall to open the door, Morisuke turned back to his toast. Shizu could deal with it - there wasn't anything she couldn't handle, and Morisuke didn't really feel like dealing with people right now.

Back on his train of thoughts, though…

"Yukie!" Shizu exclaimed, jolting Morisuke out of the zen-like state he was immersing into once more.

"Oh good, you're up. Thought I'd have to pull you out of bed with your husband's help." Yukie's light voice reached Morisuke from the front door. He was puzzled to hear a strange high-frequency tapping to go with it - did foot tapping always sound that way?

"In Mori's current state, I don't think he'd be of much help." Shizu laughed, and Mori turned, his confusion growing as he saw Yukie walk in - water droplets falling off her in her wake.

"Hey, Yaku." She greeted him warmly. "You gonna just let Shizu's comment slide?"

"Shirofuku." Morisuke nodded, still puzzled. "Why're you wet? Did something happen?"

Yukie's eyes widened as she turned to look at Shizu, who reappeared after her. The other merely grinned at Yukie, to which she turned back to Yaku with sympathy.

"Oh yeah. I completely get Shizu now." She said, to which Shizu coughed - as if trying to stop a laugh.

"Wait, on what?" Morisuke asked, pushing his plate away to focus completely. "What- Is there something I'm not getting?"  
Shizu sighed, and turned to Yukie.

"Just ignore him. Or you'll be stuck on a conversation relating routines." Shizu said kindly.

"Routines?" Yukie asked, subtly surprised. Morisuke had long since noticed each emotion Yukie showed - even if intense - always was visible only subtly. It was a complete opposite to Koutarou, who had no clue what it meant to have emotions under wraps.

"As I said, ignore it." Shizu said. "Do you want a towel? You might get sick."

"Nah, we'll be leaving soon anyways." Yukie remarked. "So go fetch something for the rain and we'll be on our way."

"Oh. Wait. It's raining?" Morisuke said, catching up. "Is that why you're wet?"

Yukie looked to the skies as if exasperated, which Morisuke found hard to understand as well. Shizu ignored it all together and turned directly to Yukie.

"Leaving?" Shizu said, surprised. "Leaving where?"

Yukie snapped her fingers - the suddenness of it making Morisuke jolt.

"Right." She said. "Because of your druggie, I completely forgot to mention when I walked in. We're going shopping."

Shizu sighed, sitting down.

"You couldn't have told me earlier?" She said. "Yooks - I've told you plenty of times, you can't just hop in and demand everything does your way. I have plans."

"With Sherlock over here?" Yukie asked, raising an eyebrow. Shizu opened her mouth to speak, but Morisuke was faster.

"Sherlock? Where's Sherlock? Isn't he just a book character?" He asked, looking around. He was further confused to see Yukie looking at Shizu with satisfaction, and Shizu closing her mouth with defeat.

"Mori, sweetheart, I think you should catch a bit more sleep, alright?" She said gently. "I'm gonna go with Yukie. Just in case, don't wait with dinner for me."

"Huh?" Morisuke asked dumbly.

"Sleep?" Yukie asked with disbelief. "This is Yaku working on reserve energy?"

"...Something like that." Shizu mumbled. "Mori, just… Just sleep. Okay? I'll probably be back before you wake up, anyway."

Sleep. Sleep sounded good. Morisuke could sleep. Sleep wasn't as confusing as this entire conversation was.

"Yeah… Yeah, okay." Morisuke agreed, then watching silently as Shizu quickly got her things and followed Yukie outside.

* * *

"So… Sleep deprivation is a drug now?"

"You won't drop it, will you?" Shizu said with exasperation, leaning back in her seat.

"You know I won't." Yukie remarked, keeping her eyes on the road. "I visit expecting you to be the usual morning zombie you are, and Yaku having everything under control, while it's the other way around. So unless it's April Fools…"

"Cut him some slack." Shizu cut in calmly. "He's had a tough week. He had three night shifts, and one day shift that extended into a night shift. You can't expect someone that overworked to be sane."

"Day shift extended into a night shift?" Yukie asked with disbelief. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly that." Shizu replied. "He's had over fifteen hours of overtime in this week alone. And not out of choice."

"But… Why?" Yukie asked, still lost and confused. Shizu was silent for a long time.

It took a moment for her to calm down from the sudden bubble of irritation that had started to develop in her. Yukie wasn't at blame; she was out of the loop. She had no reason to know.

Shizu looked around the interior of her car - at the sleek built of it, the leather seats, the many options to meddle with by the radio channels. Heck, even the driving wheel looked top notch, and it was probably the most normal part of it all.

And Yukie wasn't even a working woman.

There were times when Shizu felt the unfairness of it cutting through her like a knife, threatening to lunge at Yukie with all the venom she could muster. But she couldn't blame her for her own jealousy - especially when Yukie never flaunted Koutarou's wealth in front anyone, nor was she any particularly easy spender, well, as long as food wasn't involved.

And Shizu knew Yukie was struggling with her own problems. She wasn't working not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't find a job - it's not as if it was her dream to live off Koutarou's earnings. She didn't have to say it out loud for Shizu to know she felt embarrassed, knew her pride suffered because of it.

But even with that, she shoud have been at least ever so slightly aware of how Shizu and Yaku were both scurrying along, trying to make the best of each day - maybe not living on the brink of poverty, but definitely not letting themselves have each luxury they wished for. She should have known how each yen was made through hard work, and she should have had the sensitivity not to continue the subject.

…Though perhaps it was Shizu's fault for answering, and continuing it at all.

"Two nurses left two weeks ago." Shizu finally said. After Yukie's long sigh, she immediately hurried to continue.

"No, it's not that bad." Shizu said lightly. "I mean, sure, he's really overworked, but at this point, they need him. I'm certain of that, and that's good news in itself. So we'll handle it till more nurses apply."

"...I'm not certain if you're trying to convince me, or yourself." Yukie replied, "But either way, I'm holding your word for it. Still, you know that if-"

There it was. The main reason Shizu had no inclination of starting this topic at all.

"No." Shizu said firmly. "Don't even finish that sentence, I don't want to hear it. We're doing fine, we don't need your or Koutarou's help."

The mere thought of it left a bad taste in her mouth. Perhaps it was pride. But both she and Morisuke wouldn't have wanted to accept any help from either of them. It was their own problem - and there was no reason to pull anyone else into it.

Yukie seemed unconvinced - but Shizu didn't wish to continue the subject. She had no wish to be the object of pity. She decided therefore, to do the reasonable thing - and changed the subject.

"So where are we going?" She asked, shifting her sitting position. Yukie took a moment to reply, but to Shizu's relief, the doubtful look on her face dissolved into a smile.

"To SS." Yukie said triumphantly. "The one nearest us, that is."

Shizu gave Yukie a disbelieving look.

"SuperSmart?" She repeated. "You're taking me grocery shopping?"

After Yukie just merely grinned, Shizu groaned.

"Since when do you need help with choosing vegetables?"

"Excuse you, but it's not that rare to look for advice in the food area." Yukie said, pretending to be offended.

Shizu gave her a bored look. That was just bad enough of an explanation coming from her that Shizu realized the real reason she was tugging her along will probably remain a secret till they actually got there.

"Last time you tagged along to the supermarket with me," Shizu replied, "You gave me a half-an-hour monologue about why buying pure cocoa makes more sense than buying cocoa mixtures."

"But I finally convinced you, didn't I?" Yukie said smugly. "Besides, this time it won't be like that."

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Since it's not the food itself that I need your help with."

There it was. Shizu knew now for certain something was up. But for the sake of humoring her, she decided to play along. When it came to the teasing and playfulness game, although Shizu might've been good at it, no one - NO ONE - was better at it than the master herself, Yukie Shirofuku.

"...Now you lost me."

"Don't worry." Yukie replied calmly, still smiling wide. "You'll get it soon."

* * *

"And?"

"..."

"No words, huh?"

"Is that-?"

"Mm-hmm."

"But those are-?"

"Yep."

"...Just what the…"

Yukie burst into laughter, while Shizu still stood silently, struck by surprise, rooted to her spot. Mouth hanging open with sheer shock, she stared at the long, weaving, crowded queue that all lead to specifically ONE cashier.

It didn't matter the other three cashiers didn't have many customers, and frankly, looked bored out of their wits. The long line of squealing, excited, chattering girls and women would not budge from their queue.

"When did you find out about this?" Shizu finally managed to whisper, and Yukie giggled again, obviously finding Shizu's reaction hilarious.

"Last week. Kou came home one day just blabbering on and on about how all the girls were just pulled to the guy like a magnet, so… I had to see. And then when I did, I decided I had to make YOU see, too. You wouldn't have believed me otherwise." Yukie grinned.

Oh yes, Shizu agreed. This was something she most definitely wouldn't have believed in a million years. Because even if the man himself was more than handsome (Shizu had definitely heard words like 'beautiful' and 'breathtaking' being used for his appearance before), Shizu would have never guessed - no. Such a thought wouldn't have ever occurred - that he could have such a huge reaction among the female folk.

The 'he' of course being… Akaashi Keiji.

"But this is insane!" Shizu finally spoke up, finding her voice again. "I mean- This is just-"

"It's paranoid, right?" Yukie agreed, marveling at the sight herself. "I'm starting to think we're honored to have a relationship with him that isn't summed up with 'Good Morning, and welcome to SuperSmart.'"

Shizu couldn't help but giggle at this, before shaking her head with a sigh - even if she didn't agree in adding herself to the group of 'lucky girls' who Keiji talked to frequently.

"I pity him, truth be told." She admitted, still unable to stop her amused smile, watching one girl almost drool as Keiji (with the patience of some sort of god) asked if she'll pay in cash or credit. "I wonder why he hadn't quit yet."

"Well, apparently he wanted to." Yukie said, sobering slightly. "Koutarou mentioned Keiji talked with him on the subject. He had his mind set, and told his boss, but the other begged him to stay."

"Begged?" Shizu raised an eyebrow. Yukie flashed a grin.

"Offered-to-double-his-paycheck begged." She furthered to explain. "Just his presence at the place made sales triple. All the women in the vicinity now do their shopping only here, even though the prices aren't a lot better."

"I must admit… This is quite the phenomenon." Shizu replied, awed. "So his pay now is better than in any other part-time job?"

Yukie hesitated slightly, and Shizu looked at her curiously. She was looking at Keiji with unseeing eyes, as if pondering something. After a moment, a smile spread over her lips and she turned to look at Shizu.

"Why not ask him yourself?" She suggested, and Shizu immediately regretted asking the question.

She laughed awkwardly. "What, walk up to him while he's caught up in THAT chaos?" She remarked, and Yukie rolled her eyes.

"I mean after. We can ask when his shift ends, come back then."

"...I'm not that curious." Shizu mumbled, looking away sheepishly. Yukie sighed heavily, and Shizu immediately changed the subject. "Come on. Since we're out anyway, let's head to the city center. I am dying to eat something very tasty and unhealthy right now."

Yukie brightened immediately at this, which Shizu was very grateful for.

"Then what are we waiting for?" She asked, the impatience in her voice giving away her enthusiasm. "I know just the place."

Shizu knew she did. Make food the topic, and Yukie will forget all else. The price of a burger and french fries was one Shizu was more than happy to pay if it meant Yukie wouldn't touch the very uncomfortable subject which was her current predicament regarding Akaashi Keiji.

* * *

"You failed."

Shizu glanced up at Yukie with slight surprise. For the last few minutes, they had been silently enjoying their meal (or rather, Shizu was - Yukie finished hers within seconds) and Shizu had let herself think on what art supplies she had to replenish. It was therefore with some confusion that she replied.

"In… What?" She asked tentatively.

"Two things, really." Yukie mused, stealing a fry from her. "The first being, trying to distract me - though it was cute of you to try - and the second being you not even attempting communication."

"I'm lost." Shizu said blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"Keiji. What else?" Yukie replied, helping herself to another fry. Shizu pulled them closer to herself jealously.

"...Ah." Shizu said, the discomfort growing again. Her appetite - moments ago being extremely large - vanished without a trace. "That."

"Ah, that?" Yukie repeated with slight disbelief. "That's all you have to say?"

Shizu felt her discomfort rising still - and with it, so did her irritation.

"Whether I talk to Keiji or not is my own problem, isn't it?" She said defensively.

Yukie smiled with amusement. "You sound like a adolescent teen right now, you know that?"

How was Shizu supposed to react to that?!

"I guess it IS your problem," Yukie continued, dusting her hands from the salt while Shizu was still speechless, "But because of the length of time it's been going on over, it has become MY problem, too."

"Because?" Shizu asked, still miffed over the earlier comment. Yukie hesitated, before shrugging.

"I sort of wanted the news to come out as more dramatic," Yukie started thoughtfully, "But I still haven't found a way to do that, so I'll just say it."

While Shizu stared at her with confusion clearly painted all over her face, Yukie straightened in her chair, and smiled softly.

"Koutarou proposed." She said formally.

It took a moment for the news to sink in. But the moment the meaning of those words hit her, a huge smile grew on her lips.

"Congratulations!" She said warmly. "It's not as if we all didn't see it coming, but…"

"Well obviously, the dork is too much to handle for most people. I'm probably the only one who doesn't feel the need to throttle him every ten minutes." Yukie scoffed. "Though I guess if Tetsurou was a woman, then…"

"Oh jeez, no. Let's not go down that path again." Shizu said, unable to stop the giggle escaping her. "We had too much fun with those kind of 'what if's back in high school already."

Yukie smiled fleetingly, but quickly returned to the matter at hand. "The point is, he didn't make it any secret that both Keiji and Tetsurou will play some sort of part. One will be best man, the second - I have no idea. He'll think of something."

That wasn't surprising. Koutarou didn't spend half as much time with anyone else that wasn't Yukie than those two. Even though Shizu felt comfortable enough around him to call herself a friend with certainty, she was pretty certain both Keiji and Tetsurou could call themselves 'family' at this point.

"Good for them, then." Shizu said with a small smile. "But I still don't see-"

"You, meanwhile," Yukie continued, "I want you as my Matron of Honor."

"...Me?" Shizu said, a gush of affection suddenly filling her. "Yukie, that's… That actually IS quite the honor."

"It was an obvious choice." Yukie said with a smile, to which Shizu's own smile widened. If Keiji was like a brother to Koutarou, Yukie was definitely like a sister to Shizu - and she was happy to hear that Yukie felt the same way.

"But it does mean that you'll have to be there for every rehearsal." Yukie warned. Shizu nodded with enthusiasm.

"Of course!"

"Along with Koutarou's picks." She added.

Shizu's enthusiasm collapsed with the speed of light.

"Oh." She replied, only now realizing what Yukie had been leading to.

Yukie chuckled at Shizu's facial expression.

"Don't be so sour. It's a wedding, not a funeral." She teased her, to which Shizu looked away sheepishly.

"I really am happy for you. Really, really happy." She insisted, looking back up at her. "It's just that-"

"No." Yukie interrupted her. "I won't hear it."

"But-"

"This has been going on long enough anyway. You've both been giving each other the cold shoulder for, what, seven years? Eight? I'm not expecting some miracle here. But if you're supposed to be spending many upcoming hour on rehearsals, you better be on speaking terms."

Shizu wasn't able to keep her gaze. She felt too guilty; almost as if she were a high school student again, being scolded by a teacher.

"It's not just me, though."

"I already spoke to Keiji." Yukie informed her. "He's being a lot less of a wuss about this than you are."  
Shizu looked up, surprised.

"He is?" She repeated. "He's not… Well, he's not mad?"

"He might've been, at one point." Yukie stated. "But by now - I think he's just tired of it."

That didn't sound improbable. Keiji was never one to hold grudges; he wasn't one to get offended too easily, either.

And perhaps that was the entire reason why Shizu was finding this so much harder to do than he did.

"Promise me at least one thing, okay?" Yukie said after a while, when Shizu didn't reply.

"Which is?" She asked tiredly.

"Try." Yukie said simply. "If you do at least that much, I won't force anything more on you. Okay?"

It sounded so easy when she put it that way. Unfortunately Shizu had learned the hard way that saying and doing were two completely different things.

* * *

"I'm back." Shizu said heavily, closing the door behind her. Morisuke looked up from his lying position on the couch.

"Oh, hey." He said with a smile, getting up. Upon seeing his alert face, Shizu couldn't help a small teasing smile guest upon her face.

"So, feeling better, huh?" She said lightly, to which Morisuke scratched his head with embarrassment.

"On a scale of one to ten." He said, "Just how bad was it?"

"Eleven." Shizu replied with a grin, walking up to the couch. Morisuke sat up to allow her to sit, which she immediately did, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"That bad, huh?" He murmured. Shizu laughed quietly.

"I'm pretty sure Yukie believes it couldn't have just been sleep deprivation." She replied, and Morisuke sighed.

"I'll deal with it when the time comes, I guess." He said, before looking at Shizu thoughtfully. "You okay, though? You look terrible."

"I'm… I'm fine." Shizu said, nestling in more comfortably. "Just tired, perhaps."

"Mm…" Morisuke replied thoughtfully. Shizu could tell she wasn't convincing - but she didn't want to think about it anymore.

But was that alright?

"Look, Mori, I'm sorry…" Shizu said, hiding her face in his shoulder, "I just…"

"Hey. No apologizing." Morisuke replied, lightly tapping her head. She couldn't help smiling at the reprimand. Perhaps because she had gotten so used to them, they almost seemed like a form of affection more than anything.

"You keep making the same mistake." He continued. "'Honesty' and 'Privacy' are two different words. If you don't feel comfortable saying something, don't say it. It's as simple as that."

Shizu didn't reply to this. She just closed her eyes, feeling comfort in the warmth of his skin.

There were many things Morisuke knew that she didn't. any things he had brought from home that she had never known. She was pretty certain they wouldn't have the comforting feeling of safety and calmness in the house if not for him.

And she didn't want to ruin that. She didn't want to lie to hide her secrets; she didn't want to yell to prove a point; she didn't want them to stray away from each other because of her stubbornness.

"I just don't want…" She finally started murmuring, but Morisuke interrupted her again, tapping her head again.

"Don't dwell on it. It's not worth it." He said reasonably. "You can tell me when you're ready. As long as I am the first person you turn to when you need help - as long as you remember that you can trust me - take all the time you need."

She felt his lips pressing against her forehead - it was such a nice feeling, that she almost forgot what was on her mind her in the first place.

"You're not them." He said softly. "The very fact you think of things like this proves it."

Her heart warmed at his words. As if having a mind of their own, her arms found themselves coiling around his waist, trying to bring the man closer to her. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Morisuke giving her the characteristic of him slightly exasperated smile, as if he couldn't decide whether to be amused or annoyed.

Morisuke had his flaws. Everyone did. But they were nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to this side of him that she could rely on.

She craned her neck and kissed his cheek gently, unable to stop a smile when she noticed the faint blush forming over his cheeks. This adorable part of him was another she never grew tired of.

"I love you, Mori." She whispered, nestling against him once again.

* * *

"It's Keiji."

"Hmm?"

"The reason I was so down this evening… It was because of Keiji."

Morisuke propped himself up on his elbow, putting his book down as he turned to face her. She was lying down, staring at the ceiling, her facial expression unreadable.

"What happened?" He asked patiently. Shizu sighed, and turned to face him, the doubt and uncertainty now painted clearly all over her face.

If there was one thing Morisuke felt he knew about Shizu that nobody else did, it was this. The self-doubt and fears she never let anyone else see, hiding them expertly behind a smile or a laugh. He was pretty certain that not even Yukie knew just how deep Shizu's insecurities ran.

After all, the girl was a professional in making masks for herself. Perhaps it just came to show just how much trust she put in Morisuke to show it to him. And it meant all that much more, that knowing how insecure she was with sharing any of her problems with anyone, that she could always muster up her courage to speak with him.

That was why he reprimanded her for forcing herself. Even if he was glad she trusted him, foremost, he wanted to be certain she felt comfortable enough to speak of her problem at all.

"Yukie… Yuke and Koutarou are getting married." She explained, and Morisuke smiled.

"Then that's only news worthy of happiness! Although now I'm curious how much fumbling it took the guy to get down to proposing at all." He added thoughtfully.

Shizu giggled lightly, her tension leaving her slightly. "I thought the same, honestly." She said. "Koutarou, proposing? I mean… Would he even know the steps?"

"I bet he trained with Keiji." Morisuke replied deadpan, to which Shizu laughed.

"I actually don't find that hard to believe…" She replied with a grin. Slowly it faded to a just a slight smile as she continued.

"Well, anyway… Keiji will play a role in the wedding, and… Yukie wants me to be her Matron of Honor."

It was now that Morisuke understood what it was that had been on her mind this entire time.

"You don't know how to approach him, do you?" He asked. Shizu bit her lip, indicating he was right.

He sighed.

Shizu's insecurities were often blown out of proportion entirely - so much so, that in times like these, she would be completely lost on what to do. In that sense, she was still very immature - stumbling around in the dark, not reaching out for anything that might be a light switch in the fear it could be anything other than that.

And as much as Morisuke would have liked to just knock some sense into her head, he realized that in matters such as these - that wouldn't work in the least.

"When was the last time you two talked? And I mean, really talked?" He asked, and Shizu furrowed her forehead, thinking.

"...Before the graduation game." She finally said, sounding guilty. "He wanted me to give Tetsurou a message from Koutarou - I don't remember what it was. But we talked for around five minutes, maybe?"

Graduation. That was four years ago. It should have shocked him, but he had heard of the trouble between the two ever since he had met her; the thing was, even back then, the awkwardness between them was already heavy.

"When you spoke to him then - if you recall it - did he seem mad? Or sad?" He continued, and Shizu was lost in thought again.

"...I think he was the same as always." She said doubtfully. "Very courteous. And very to the point. But he might just have been pretending back then."

And there it was. Her blown out of proportion insecurities.

"The last time I recall Keiji trying to talk to you," Morisuke said, "Was on the meet-up two weeks ago."

The genuine surprise that flashed over Shizu's face would have been almost comical, if Morisuke hadn't known the reason behind it.

"He asked you if you wanted something to drink, didn't he?" Morisuke said. "If he was trying to avoid you, don't you think he'd have ignored you altogether?"

Shizu furrowed her brows. "But he was just being polite. That doesn't mean anything."

"You weren't in his immediate vicinity. You were keeping a distance from him, as always." Morisuke replied sympathetically. "That is more than just politeness."

Shizu stared at him, stunned into silence. Morisuke pushed himself up to a sitting position, and looked down at her with a small, sad smile.

"I'm pretty sure you know this," He continued, "But you can't run forever. And maybe this is the perfect occasion for you to finally drop the barrier you have put up so long ago."

"But I hurt him." She replied in a whisper. "I did something awful to him."

"And I'm certain everyone except you can see that he's forgiven you a long time ago." Morisuke replied. "I'm not saying it'll be easy - but perhaps it won't be as hard as you think.

Shizu looked at him for a moment more, before a small,hesitant smile formed on her lips.

"How do you do it," She marveled, "That in one go, you manage to give me courage I've been trying to raise for six years?"

Morisuke smiled winningly.

"Because that's my role." He replied confidently. "Being your personal courage-giver is my specialty."

Shizu laughed a laugh that sounded much more relieved than amused. And perhaps that's just what it was; a fear honed over years can't be one that is dropped without any relief.

Morisuke just hoped that now, she could at least face this fear of hers - and dispel of it completely.


	4. The Dinner Guests

Morisuke awakening came by a lot stranger than usual for a Sunday morning.

At first he didn't understand why. But as he slowly started coming to his senses, it became clear.

The other side of the bed was both cold, and empty. And a sweet smell of something baking wafted inside the bedroom, from, presumably the kitchen.

He sat upright, suddenly concerned. He checked the time- it was barely ten past nine. Hastily donning on something warm, he got up and made his way towards the kitchen.

There, as the smell had suggested, he found Shizu cheerfully humming to herself as she stirred something in a big pot, while the smell he felt earlier continued intensely wafting from the oven.

"…Shizu?" He said uncertainly, and Shizu started, surprised, before grinning at Morisuke.

"Hey there." She said warmly. "I didn't think you'd be up yet. You came home late last night."

"Well, I guess…" Morisuke started slowly, still not entirely certain if he was seeing correctly. "But more importantly, Shizu – are you okay?"

Shizu blinked at Morisuke with confusion, her hand stopping in mid-stir.

"I… Think so?" She replied, the puzzlement clear in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

"You're up. Voluntarily. At nine in the morning." Morisuke explained, still looking at her with bewilderment.

Only then Shizu's confusion passed and she laughed, continuing with her stirring.

"I guess I am really hopeless, aren't I?" She agreed, still grinning. At least her light mood stayed the same as always, Morisuke thought. "But I'll surprise you. I've actually been up since seven." She added proudly.

"On a Sunday?" Morisuke asked with bewilderment, staring at her with shock. "Shizu, are you having trouble sleeping?"

Shizu laughed again, and put the lid back on the pot before turning to face him, leaning against the counter.

"I wanted to get stuff done for this evening." She explained with a smile. "Since the guys are coming over, I thought I'd prepare everything early on, and then just re-heat it just before they come. That way… We can still spend the day together, not held down with house work."

Morisuke continued staring at Shizu silently.

He had completely forgotten that Kozume and Tetsurou were coming over for dinner that day. Even though Shizu had been confirming it with them last night, it sort of slipped his mind. And meanwhile, she not only remembered about it – she also made a plan to be able to spend the day with Morisuke as well.

"You still look pretty tired." Shizu commented a moment later, when Morisuke was still silent. "I'm almost finished here. Go rest some more, then we can decide on what we're gonna do."

"But I-" Morisuke started, suddenly feeling guilty for leaving her with the housework. She waved away his reply.

"Seriously, Mori." She grinned. "I'm fine alone here, and you earned yourself a good night's sleep."

A memory flitted through his mind at her words, one that only made him feel worse.

"I'm getting deja vu." He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I'm half expecting Shirofuku to spring out from nowhere now."

Shizu looked at him quizzically for a moment, before brightening as she understood. She laughed, walking up to him and clasping his cheeks with her hands. Absent-mindedly, he cupped his own hands over hers, thoughts still circling around last week's event.

"Yukie and Koutarou are visiting her parents this weekend. I promise you, no surprise visits today." Shizu grinned. "Besides, I'm not telling you to sleep through the whole day. Worry not - I'll be ready to dump an ice bucket on you if that's what'll take to get you up in an hour or two."

"How considerate." Morisuke muttered, to which Shizu grinned teasingly.

"Anything for my dearest victim." She replied, immediately opposing her comment by reaching up and planting an affectionate kiss on his lips. Morisuke returned it without hesitation, releasing the hold on her hands to embrace her petite form instead.

Shizu suddenly squirmed and shook her head violently, effectively breaking the kiss.

"Oh, no, no, no." She tut-tutted, firmly grasping his hands and breaking his hold, much to his bemusement.

"Let me rephrase - you're going to bed by yourself, sir, and your main focus will be purely physiological sleep. Clear?" She said sternly, to which Morisuke couldn't help but smile. When not actually angry, nor bossy - her mock attitudes often came out as cute. He suspected that was also the effect she was going for- for an honest woman, Shizu had quite the actor's streak in her to get what she wanted.

"Why do you go destroying my loopholes?" He asked lightly, deciding to humor her. She grinned, walking back to the counter.

"You're my dearest victim, remember?" She said cunningly. "Now go on - shoo."

Morisuke would probably have continued the banter, if he had not, in all honesty, been actually feeling like he did need a bit more sleep. He therefore just offered her a sad head shake, and made his way back to the bedroom.

* * *

"Did I leave the stove on?"

Morisuke stopped with a sigh, turning to look at Shizu wearily. The woman was standing, petrified, in the middle of the sidewalk, her eyes wide with horror.

This was the third time this happened in the last half hour. The other two times being questions of whether or not she had closed all the windows and if she had locked the door.

"I am pretty certain you did." He replied. Shizu scowled and turned to look at him.

"Did you see me turning the stove off?" She demanded.

And here they went again.

"No, but-"

"Then how can you be certain I HAVE turned it off?" She asked. Morisuke gave her an exasperated look.

"You aren't one to just forget about something burning in the stove." He said calmly. "I'm certain nothing happened."

"I definitely got the dish out. I remember thinking that it turned out better than I thought it would." She muttered, choosing to ignore him. "But did I then turn the knob? I-"

"Shizu!" Morisuke said, catching her shoulders. She looked up at him, startled.

"Everything's fine. Trust me, if you can't trust yourself." He pleaded. She gave out a long sigh, looking him in the eye. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"You're right. I mean, it's probably just something I did unconsciously like when you turn the lights off." She relented.

Morisuke smiled, offering his arm. She took it without a moment's hesitation.

"Thank you." He said, relieved. They continued on their walk, until a few minutes later, Shizu stopped again, with a confused frown.

"Speaking of which, did I turn the lights-"

"Okay, no. I'm done." Morisuke said firmly, his patience having been all used up. He dropped his hold at the elbow and instead gripped her hand tightly, and started walking forwards with determination.

"Mori?" Shizu said, surprised. "What are you-?"

"We came here to have fun," He said, "And that's what we're going to do. Your household concenrs will have to wait."

"But-"

"No buts. Half of today is mine as well, and I demand it be used on things we can't normally do."

Shizu was quiet for a while, simply being tugged along after Morisuke. Then, she giggled, and skipped up to level up with him.

"You aren't often this decisive." She grinned, taking his arm again. Morisuke slowed down slightly, but still walked on without fail.

"It's not often needed." He replied simply, his scowl smoothing out.

"Well for the record, I enjoy seeing your more manly side." She murmured, resting her head aginst his shoulder. "It's a very nice change of pace."

"…I'm not certain if I should take that as an insult or a compliment." Morisuke replied, frowning with confusion. "Are you suggesting I'm not manly on a daily basis?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Shizu looked up at him and grinned.

"Oh, that's not what I had on mind at all." She said, patting his arm reassuringly. "Your masculinity is very well developed." She added with a suggestive wink, to which Morisuke could only look up to the heavens with a weary smile.

Ah, well. He didn't mind a little ego stroke every now and again.

"I just meant you go along with things more often than not, your input varying from 'okay' to 'good idea'." She continued with a smile. "At times it feels as if you saying you trust my decisions is simply a way to be excluded from the difficult process of decision-making."

"Is that just an elaborate way of you trying to say I don't care?" Morisuke asked, slightly surprised.

"Well…" She replied, sending him an apologetic smile.

Morisuke looked ahead of him again, feeling as if he had just been insulted.

Of course he cared. It's just that more often than not, he and Shizu thought alike, and Shizu's decisions were ones he'd make himself. Something, he now realized, she might not have been completely aware of.

But even then - he never really thought any harder about it. Shizu reacted for the both of them more often than not, and it became a comfortable solution. But during this time, did he unintentionally make her feel as if everything was burdened only on her shoulders?

He had assumed she knew she could share anything with him. That any decisions regarding them both, even if made by just one of them, was still shared by them both - and similarly, the consequences were shared as well. But perhaps assuming was the wrong way to go.

"So you'd like more input from me?" He asked. She laughed.

"Now you're making it sound like it's an order." She replied. "I was simply making an observation, that's all."

No, that wasn't all. Morisuke could tell, this had been bugging her for a while now.

"Right." He nodded confidently. "I'll make sure to do more things the way I'd like them to be done, even if you think differently."

"Oh yeah?" Shizu asked, with an amused smile.

"Yes." He stopped, turning to her with a confident smile. "Starting now."

Her initial curious confusion quickly turned into surprise as Morisuke suddenly swooped down and tucked one arm under her knees, while moving the arm she had been holding securely under her back, swiftly picking her up, bridal-style.

"Mori!" She gasped, growing beetroot red. "What're you doing?!"

"What I want." He replied with a bright smile.

Unlike Shizu, Morisuke never had a problem with showing affection in public. As a matter-of-fact, he felt proud of the fact that he could walk through the park with a woman as wonderful and beautiful as his wife. That it was him - not any other man.

"Mori, people are looking at us funny!" Shizu whispered nervously, resting her hands against his chest in feeble resistance. Morisuke didn't even budge, just continued on their walk.

Some people did, in fact, give them strange looks. Others looked amused, others just didn't seem to care. Perhaps they had seen stranger things already.

"Let them look." He replied calmly, hugging her closer. "They can't stop me from doing what I feel like doing."

Shizu was quiet for a moment, before she sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You know, I mentioned your input in decision-making," She grumbled, nestling her face in the crook of his neck, "I never expected you to go overboard like this."

Morisuke laughed. "Well then, you'll just have to be more careful with what you wish for next time, won't you?"

"Shut up." Shizu muttered, but Morisuke could tell she was smiling.

* * *

"When were they to come, again?" Morisuke asked, checking his watch. Shizu sighed impatiently.

"They won't be hear any quicker with your growing impatience, Mori." She replied, a smile tugging on her lips. "Besides, it's barely ten past five. You can't seriously be mad that they're running late by ten minutes."

"I can and will be when they haven't even bothered inform us as for why." He said, walking up to the kitchen window to look out expectantly. "It's just rude."

"Being everywhere half an hour early is just as bad." Shizu noted with a grin, carefully arranging the plates and cutlery on the dinner table.

"There's a big difference." Morisuke objected, getting the glasses and laying them on the table as well. "If you're early, you can always wait around somewhere until the time comes."

"Sure you can. Or you can call up asking if the people you're meeting are ready yet and stress them out once they realize you're already there."

Morisuke gave her a weary look. "That happened only once."

Shizu grinned at him teasingly. "And whoever said Tetsurou and Kozume always run late?" She asked innocently. "If you really are so impatient, though, why don't you do me a favor and get the laundry? I'm pretty certain it's finished by now."

Morisuke was just about to answer when the bell rang. Shizu's grin widened.

"Saved by the bell." She commented, and didn't wait for Morisuke's reply as she quickly made it to the front door. With an exasperated sigh, Morisuke followed, stopping a few steps away as Shizu opened the front door.

"Damn, it's freezing!" A loud comment immediately met them, followed by a tall man briskly walking in. Right behind him, a much shorter male followed, muttering a quite "Afternoon" to Shizu.

"Well hello to you to, Tetsurou." Shizu rolled her eyes, closing the door behind him. "Honestly, what happened with manners?"

"They got frozen right along with me." Tetsurou replied with a grin, turning to her. "Good to see you, Shiz."

"Mm, you too- no, don't hug me!" She yelped with surprise, as the other leaned down to do just that. "You're all cold, ugh. Warm up first!"

"…And who here was just talking about manners a moment ago, huh?" He replied slyly, teasingly reaching out his arms towards her, while Shizu moved away with a grimace.

Morisuke watched their antics wearily for a moment, before giving a nod in greeting to Kozume - who had eased himself through the corridor away from the two.

"You're late." Morisuke stated bluntly, giving Tetsurou a disapproving look. The other, who was presently hugging a very unhappy Shizu, looked up at Morisuke with a grin, and finally let go of Shizu to take off his coat.

"Hey, first of all - it was less than twenty minutes. Second - it wasn't me who forgot the time we were to meet up."

"Kozume, I texted you like an hour ago, as a reminder." Shizu said to this with surprise, turning to the boy. "Didn't you read it?"

Kozume looked away, his cheeks slightly tinting. "…I did." He mumbled, and Tetsurou raised an eyebrow, hanging his coat on the hanger and moving further inside the house, followed by Shizu.

"Somehow that didn't stop you from getting caught up in some monster fight on your console."

Kozume only sighed, looking away with a troubled expression. Shizu looked up at the ceiling with exasperation, but smiled with amusement nonetheless.

"He's the reason we're late, too." Tetsurou added defensively, before walking up to Morisuke with a grin. Morisuke looked up at him wearily.

"That's still no excuse. You know Kenma better than anyone, and should've known what would happen." He replied, putting his hands on his hips.

"….I feel as if I am being insulted." Kozume replied in a mutter. Shizu chuckled and walked up to him, warmly hugging him in greeting as well - a gesture Kozume returned somewhat hesitantly. Although they had known each other a long time by now, Morisuke knew he was still bad at showing affection openly.

"To be fair, you did forget about my text." Shizu grinned, to which Kozume only sighed in defeat.

"Anyway, let's end this talk already. What's important is that you're here, and that the food's ready. So let's eat!" Shizu said enthusiastically, ushering them all towards the dinner table.

* * *

"So, Tetsurou." Shizu said lightly, passing him the coffee cup. A mixed chorus of sighs and groans erupted immediately after those two words. Shizu blinked with surprise at them all.

"What?" She asked defensively.

"I knew it." Morisuke said wearily.

"We all did." Kozume replied, sinking in his chair.

"I, for one, hoped this time wouldn't come." Tetsurou said with a tired chuckle.

"The time for what, exactly?" Shizu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't act like you don't know." Morisuke said, looking at Shizu with exasperation. "Can't you leave Kuroo alone already?"

"I second that." Tetsurou added with a grin. Shizu narrowed her eyes at Morisuke.

"No, I can't." She said stubbornly. Morisuke got up with a sigh.

"Then at least don't make me sit this out." He replied. "Or Kenma, for that matter."

"Hey- are you seriously just gonna leave me?" Tetsurou asked, perplexed. "I thought you had my back!"

Morisuke gave him a pitying look. "Sorry. I'm afraid you're on your own. Hey Kenma, I think club qualifiers will be on soon. Care to join?"

"Yeah." Kozume replied immediately, getting up from his spot. Tetsurou gave him a disbelieving look.

"Seriously?" He asked him. Kozume only glanced between him, then Shizu, before shrugging in defeat.

"…She'd target me after otherwise." He replied wisely, and left after Morisuke.

"Hey-!" Tetsurou got up with alarm.

"Nuh uh." Shizu said bluntly, getting up as well and crossing her arms, staring at him defiantly. "They can leave. You stay."

"Oh, come on, Shiz!" Tetsurou said, giving her a look of exasperation. "Can't you just let it be, already?"

"I agree." Morisuke added loudly, from his sitting place in the lounge. Shizu turned to look at him crossly.

"I thought you didn't want to take part in the conversation?" She asked him innocently, and Morisuke gave her a weary look before turning back to face the television, turning it on.

"You're right, I don't. I'm shutting up." He only added with a sigh.

"Good. Now, Tetsurou," Shizu turned back to the other, "How's Girlfriend No. 15?"

"Currently Ex No. 15." Tetsurou said with a sigh, giving in and slouching against the chair. Shizu furrowed her brows.

"But it's been barely two months." Shizu said, confused. Tetsurou shrugged.

"One, actually. We broke up last month." Tetsurou informed her, and she groaned.

"Don't tell me No. 16 has already shown up in that time." She replied, and Tetsurou smirked.

"Her name's Yuki, actually." He said cunningly. Shizu gave him a cold stare.

"This really isn't funny, Tetsurou. You haven't had a solid relationship for at least two years now. You can't just date girls and then break up with them as if they're dirt."

"I treat them well."

"Dating them and dumping them in the span of a month repeatedly isn't treating them well. If you can't focus on any one of them, just stay single, or keep it to one-night-stands if she's okay with it."

"That's surprising." Tetsurou remarked, raising his eyebrows at her and grinning. "Since when are you okay with one-night-stands?"

A small blush tinted Shizu's cheeks while she scowled back. "This is about you, not me. I'm not gonna force my beliefs on others, but what you're doing now is just unhealthy. You need stability."

"What if I don't want it?" Tetsurou asked, suddenly turning solemn. "It's my life, Shiz, jeez. You gotta stop acting like a nagging mom, I already have one of those."

"Well, obviously, she's not doing a good enough job." Shizu retorted. "Or you wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"I give up." Tetsurou said with a sigh. "Where are you headed with the conversation this time?"

"Well, I initially hoped No. 15 was still around, but since she isn't… I was hoping I could at least-"

"No."

"But I didn't even finish the sentence!" She objected, crestfallen.

Morisuke laughed wearily from the couch.

"You don't need to." He said, turning to face them both with an amused smile. "Honestly, Shizu, I feel like instead of going to college you should've opened your own match-making parlor."

Tetsurou snorted.

"She'd have gone out of business before long." He replied, winning himself a nasty look from the girl. "We've been over this. Countless times. I don't need or want help. And even if I did, I wouldn't have turned to you - I gave your 'single acquantainces' a chance, and look how that worked out."

"It worked out for them." Shizu said with a smile, to which Tetsurou rolled his eyes wearily.

"Yeah. Knowing what they DIDN'T want to happen again definitely helped them in finding long-term partners."

"Shizu, really, give it a rest. You've done enough already." Morisuke added, turned towards the screen.

Shizu was silent for a long while, until she finally let out a long, tired sigh.

"…Fine. For now, at least." She relented, to which both Morisuke and Tetsurou let out a long held-in breath.

"Finally." Tetsurou said, relieved, getting up from the table and moving to the TV. "Now that that's finally over, let's see how our little crows are doing."

"…Shoyo's not playing yet." Kozume informed him, sounding saddened about it. Tetsurou laughed and plopped down next to him.

"I bet they'll put him in before long." He said, making himself comfortable.

"Oh, that reminds me." Shizu said, getting up as well and standing behind the couch over Kozume. "About your games…"

Kozume froze, before sinking lower into the sofa with a quiet groan. Two weary chuckles followed his action.

* * *

"So you'll definitely make it next Saturday?" Tetsurou asked, looking from Shizu to Morisuke.

Shizu hesitated and looked at Morisuke, who shrugged and nodded at her.

"We should be able to." He confirmed, turning back to Tetsurou. "Though you never know how many kids will get sick over the weekend."

"We ought to be there, though. At the very least, it would be a faux pas for us to miss it." Shizu replied thoughtfully, before turning with an apologetic smile to Tetsurou. "We'll let you know soon."

"Don't let me know, let Koutarou know." Tetsurou grinned in reply. "Heck, it's not my engagement party."

"Unfortunately." Shizu added somewhat sternly, to which Tetsurou rolled his eyes, while Morisuke looked up at the ceiling impatiently.

"Stubborn as always, Shiz." Tetsurou sighed. Shizu smiled cheekily. Kozume sighed quietly, and Shizu laughed.

"Oh, alright, alright. I'll let you guys go now." She said warmly, gesturing to the shorter of the two. Reluctantly, Kozume walked up and let himself get hugged by the woman. Tetsurou laughed.

"Quit looking like a beat up puppy, Kenma. With that attitude you'll never find someone." He lightly commented, earning himself a scowl from Kozume.

"...I don't want to, anyway." He muttered under his nose as Shizu let go of him to turn to Tetsurou with an exasperated smile.

"Says the guy who can't keep someone." She rebutted him, to which Tetsurou chuckled wearily, bending down to hug her as well.

"Touche." He only stated, giving her a light squeeze, which she returned in kind.

Morisuke, meanwhile, had walked up to Kozume and had given him a friendly pat on the back.

"See you next Saturday, I hope." He said warmly, and Kozume only nodded silently, looking away. Morisule narrowed his eyes at him.

"Shizu might have a point, you know." He said sternly. 'Your eyes look terrible. You ought to do something about your gaming hours, or I'll personally see to it." He warned, and Kozume grimaced.

"I don't spend half as much time playing as you think I do..." He muttered in complaint.

Tetsurou, noticing this, grinned.

"Your mom is showing, Yaku." He teased him, earning him a frown from the other man.

"That's not it." Yaku replied defensively. "Watching a bright screen in a dark room is terrible for your eyesight."

"Seems we won't escape from either of you nagging us, huh?" Tetsurou said lightly, reaching out a hand to Morisuke, which he shook firmly.

"Depending on your point of view, we're either your curse or your blessing." Shizu grinned, as Morisuke walked up to get the door.

"Curse. Definitely curse." Tetsurou said immediately.

"Hush, you." Shizu said, playfully punching Tetsurou's arm. Laughing, he shuffled outside, with Kozume following. It was already dark; Morisuke was awed in how quickly time could go by in good company.

Tetsurou lightly slapped his arm, jolting Morisuke out of his thoughts.

He made a stern gesture with his fore finger at him, making Morisuke raise his eyebrow.

"You playing teacher?" He asked with disbelief.

"No, I'm playing captain." He replied with a grin. "And as part of the act I expect you to not ditch on us again."

Morisuke gave him a bored look. "I had no choice. As a hospital worker, I-"

"I kinda agree with Tetsu here, Mori." Shizu said apologetically. Morisuke turned to her with shock at her betrayal, to which she chuckled awkwardly and raised her hands inself-defense. Tetsurou first regarded her with surprise, and then laughed out loud at both of them.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events!" He grinned. "The wife takes the side of her ex!"

"You are seriously going to play that card now?" She said with exhaustion, while Morisuke still looked at her with confusion.

"But…Why?" He asked, puzzled. Shizu sighed, and glanced at Tetsurou.

"I think we need to talk for a while, you know?" She said subtly, and Tetsurou understood immediately.

"Oh, I understand." He grinned, walking backwards towards his car, twirling the keys in his hand while still looking at her. Kozume was already standing by the car door, looking down at his phone in focus.

"Remember you can always call me up to whoop his ass for you." He added, unlocking the doors.

Shizu rolled her eyes, while Morisuke gave him a weary look.

"And you call me the mom of the team." He called to Tetsurou, and he grinned in reply. With one last, cheerful wave, both he and Kozume entered the car and drove off.

"Why did you say that before?" Morisuke asked, not letting go.

If there was anyone he expected to understand, it was Shizu. And yet - she agreed with Tetsurou? Why?

Shizu's angry glare dissipated into an apologetic one as she closed the door behind their guests.

"Look, Mori…" She started, "I know the hospital is important, and I want the best for those kids just as much as you do."

She looked up and turned to Morisuke, cupping his cheeks with her hands.

"But THIS is important, too." She said firmly.

"I would never-"

"Sacrifice your free time to get more work done? Leave home at five and come back after nine? Sleep the entire free day through because of your fatigue?" Shizu suggested, and Morisuke shook his head firmly.

"This is just a temporary thing." He argued. Shizu looked at him with concern.

"It's only been getting worse this past month." She said. "You are one person. One. The hospital can't function on your shoulders alone, and the more people leave, the more it seems to be that way."

"I know that." He replied with a scowl. Shizu smiled with tired amusement.

"Yes, you know it." She said, tapping his forehead playfully. "But you don't feel it, do you?"

Morisuke opened his mouth to reply, to continue standing his ground, but something in Shizu's smile stopped him.

Sure, she looked concerned, tired, and slightly amused. But there was more in it.

She was scared.

Knowing her, Shizu would never say it. But it was there, noticeable, within the many other emotions hidden behind that smile.

This wasn't about the team, or the guys. It was never about them. It was about her.

Now that he thought about it, this connected to the conversation he had with her earlier that day, as well. How she felt responsible for the both of them - as if their relationship was riding solely on her input alone.

...Did he involuntarily make her feel as if she were second to his job?

"This isn't about what Kuroo said, is it?" He asked aloud, and a flicker of surprise passed Shizu's face.

"What do you mean?" She asked uncertainly.

He clasped her hands in both of his, holding onto them tightly.

"There is nothing," He said quietly, "nothing, I care more about than keeping our marriage in tact."

Shizu's cheeks slightly colored as she laughed awkwardly.

"It would be strange if it were any different." She said lightly, but Morisuke wasn't having that.

"No, Shizu." He said firmly, catching her other hand. "I mean it. Heck, the very reason I go out daily and stay for as long as I do, is because of that. Overtime is extra pay that we both know we need. Do you think I actually want to make the sacrifices I make?"

"Well, no-"

"Do you think I want to spend less time with you?"

"I-"

"Do you think I wish to talk with you less?"

"That's-"

"Do you really, honestly, truly believe, that there could be something, anything, I could love more, than my very own wife?"

By this time, Shizu had turned almost completely red.

"Y...You're really pouring it on thick." She stammered out weakly.

And even now, she was still trying to hide her own insecurities and embarrassment behind a joke.

Morisuke wasn't certain if he was impressed with her attempt at feigning confidence, or exasperated that she was still putting up a front.

He smiled gently. No matter which it was, seeing her in such a flustered state never ceased to make her look even more beautiful than she already was. There weren't many times she would show her painfully feminine side - her weakness towards words of affection and emotion. And yes, perhaps it was cheesy, but the effect was so endearing, Morisuke didn't mind if she'd tease him about it in the few days to come.

He chuckled lightly.

"...You're a stubborn one." He murmured softly, moving in for the kiss.

And Shizu had no more words.

* * *

"...We don't actually need it."

"Hmm?" Morisuke asked sleepily.

"The overtime cash." Shizu said, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. "We're financially stable enough to do without it."

Morisuke regarded her with curiosity.

"Well, for the time being, yes." He agreed calmly. "But you've got to save, Shizu."

"Save for what?" She persisted.

Morisuke knew where she was going with this. And unfortunately, she was right. It wasn't that he was trying to keep a secret from her - rather, he had been waiting for a correct time to say it.

"You never know what it might be necessary for." He said evasively. "It's always better to be prepared... Especially if we decide on something costly in the future."  
"The code word being 'we'." She replied firmly. Morisuke met her gaze.

"Yes, 'we'." He said readily. "Where my wishes are just as important as your own."

Shizu sighed and fell back down onto the bed.

"...Well, it's too late to discuss now." She muttered. "But my wishes won't change any time soon."

"It doesn't mean we can't save." Morisuke argued. "The point still stands, the money might be useful in the future - perhaps for a different reason."

"And you called me stubborn." She said jokingly, eying him out of the corner of her eye. He affectionately pushed a stray strand of hair from her face.

"You did want me to take part in decision-making more actively earlier today." He reminded her. She huffed in mock irritation, and caught his hand as he was about to pull it away.

"If I had known the consequences..." She started slowly, and Morisuke nudged her in teasing reprimand.

"Oi." He said, and she laughed softly. She fell in thoughtful silence for a moment, her eyes fluttering closed.

"...Just promise me not to get lost in your goals, Mori." She said a moment later, opening her eyes again to look at him in concern. "Don't... Leave."

Morisuke probably should have felt guilty for causing her to worry, or at least apologetic for not taking it into account in the first place. But instead - his heart soared.

The woman he had his eyes on since his second year of high school. The woman he had watched from afar, the one he strived to have notice him for two years straight. The woman he had chased after until she was his, almost four years after seeing her for the first time.

This very woman was now looking not at any other man, but at him - and asking him not to leave. Asking him to not forget about her. To stay by her side.  
No feeling could beat the one of triumphant joy spreading within him.

He leaned over, brushing his fingers against her soft cheek.

"Never."

* * *

[A/N]: I've realized it's probably better to add these at the end.

I hope you enjoyed this next chapter - I'm sorry it came out so late. I don't really have much to add this time; if anything, it's the physical appearance of the characters we all know and love, since I realized that apart from Shizu, I didn't really add anything. And that's because, well... There's not much to add. The men's growth spurt ends before 19, so Tetsurou won't be getting any taller, and neither will Morisuke. And Kozume - I don't think he grew much over this time. As to hair, muscle definement, and so forth, I'd say it's safe to assume nothing changed. Their volleyball hobby definitely keeps them in check physically, while Morisuke will always go with practical hairstyles, and Tetsurou and Kozume just either don't care enough to change anything up or like them the way they are.

If I think the future Haikyuu characters have any major physical changes, I'll be sure to add that into the story. ^^


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